Escape
by JadeMesmerizedByOnyx
Summary: Sasuke is caught together with team Hebi. Sakura is in charge of his interrogation, but Sasuke has other plans, like killing Itachi. He decides that he needs her help. Will she escape from her abductor or become a traitor like him?
1. Part one: Becoming a traitor

**This story is a little bit different from my usual stories, but I hope you'll like it anyway. Let me know if you did and if you didn't, then let me know what I should improve and or change. I know you all can find that review button!**

**Disclaimer: We all want to... If anyone wants to give me a christmas gift... :giggle: **_  
_

* * *

_Escape part 1._

_Because at some point, we all want to escape. This was his point._

_The mind is a mystery to us and to them._

* * *

_**Becoming a traitor.**_

No way, no freaking way.

Anger, sadness, disappointment, rage and despair were all running through my veins. I can't tell you in which order, because it all happened way too fast.

My heart was pounding in my chest, my breathing was heavy and my palms were sweaty.

"Don't you remember me, Sasuke-kun?" I cried in despair, fighting back my tears. This just couldn't be happening to me. Not after all those years. It felt like my heart was torn apart.

His empty eyes were watching me.

"I remember him," he said emotionless, nodding towards Naruto who was lying unconsciously next to me. "I guess you weren't important enough to remember." His cold voice hit me like a kunai piercing my already bleeding heart.

"Sakura! Haruno Sakura, I used to be your teammate!" I tried again and my quivering voice finally broke. I wanted to be recognized so eagerly.

"Sakura huh?" His eyes travelled up to my hair. "I see."

"Sasuke-kun, do you know this woman?" A girl with glasses and the ugliest hair ever asked him. How could he forget me? I wondered. It felt so surreal.

"Shut up, Karin," he replied, and the girl shut her mouth, clearly hurt by his cold voice, like he hurt so many others.

"Sasuke-kun!" I cried out.

"I used to have a teammate, female. I don't remember her though," he spoke before he turned around.

I ran towards him and he turned around again.

"I wouldn't touch me, if I were you," he warned me, glaring at me with his Sharingan. "If you'd know me, you would also know that I hate women who touch me," he stated. His voice still sounded emotionless.

Instead of hugging him like I had done years and years before during the chuunin exam, I lifted my hand and smacked his face. He should have seen it coming, but he didn't dodge. My hand left a burning red mark on his left cheek.

I heard one of his team members whistle between his teeth.

"Shouldn't you be protesting, Karin?" he teased the girl. She threw him an angry glare.

"Let's go, Sasuke-kun," she pleaded and grabbed his arm. He jerked it away, without looking at her. I could easily tell that the girl felt hurt. Just like I did.

"Haruno Sakura, if you know what's good for you, than you better leave," his voice was threatening now and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly, giving me an indication of how angry he was.

"Shut up," I replied. My tears had dried on my face. "It's been five years since you left," I told him. "I came after you that night." I searched his face for signs of recognition, but it was hard to tell what he was thinking since his face was blank as ever. I didn't care for his other teammates as I continued. "I told you I loved you."

"Aa… Sakura," he said, clearly remembering it now. "The pathetic girl that was slowing me down all the time. Not even worthy of remembering," he sneered.

Suddenly, I heard a lot of footsteps. The back-up was on its way. Everything happened fast now. Several teams were coming to capture the Uchiha. I turned around and lifted Naruto up. I would take him back to the village. The others would take care of Sasuke-kun.

* * *

Of course I'd recognized her. That stupid, short, pink bubblegumish hair of hers. I wouldn't be able to forget it even if I tried. 

I had hurt her. I knew I had. Her feelings were ever so obvious. She hadn't changed much. She still remembered me of the fangirlish girl she used to be, always in tears because of me.

Haruno Sakura. She desperately wanted me to remember her. Why was that so important to her? Because she and the dobe had been searching for me?

"Sasuke-kun, do you have a plan yet to get out of here?" Karin asked, managing to make her voice sound whining, yet seductive. If I would have to portray her at this moment, I'd say she'd taken off her glasses, just for the show. How disgusting.

"Shut up," I replied annoyed and heard Suigetsu snickering behind me. Karin scooted away and I occupied my mind again by thinking about _her_.

The way she had been fighting earlier had surprised me. Yes, her fighting style had changed a lot. But what would you expect of a shinobi who used to run away and cry her eyes out. She was so much stronger now. If anyone had ever told me about this, I would have laughed it away. No, I never laugh. I would simply have said that it would be impossible. Haruno Sakura physically stronger than me? No way. Yet, she was.

I remembered the day I left. How she begged me to stay. How she had offered me her love. Pathetic. Like that would help me any further. What could the love of a thirteen year old girl be of any good to me?

I furrowed my brow. Yet some days, I tried to protect her. Then I shrugged. It was not like that meant something or whatsoever. "Uchiha Sasuke, come with me please." I looked up to see one of the guards speaking to me, waiting for me to stand up. Of course I had heard him coming. It didn't surprise me that they wanted to interrogate me first. After all, they knew me… once. At least they thought they did, and I smirked inwardly. I stood up and followed the guard quietly. He didn't even look at me as he told me to go inside the room we were standing right in front of. I twisted the doorknob and opened the door to the rather small room. How annoying. I hated it already.

"Take a seat," a familiar voice said and even though I hated to be ordered around, I obeyed.

"you know why you're here," the voice spoke again. I didn't reply, there was no need to.

The female in front of me turned around and glared at me without frightening me. I never had been afraid of her. This was certainly not going to change now.

"Sasuke, I'm going to ask you some questions and you will answer them, am I clear?" Sakura threatened, pushing herself up from the table.

I just narrowed my eyes. I didn't like to be threatened. Orochimaru used to do that sometimes, and look how he ended up.

"Did you kill Orochimaru?" was her first question. She was leaning against the table in front of me now, serving as some sort of desk.

I crossed my arms. "You're annoying."

"When I told you to answer my questions, I didn't mean that you would do anything but answering. Did you kill Orochimaru, yes or no," she repeated her question slowly, her voice sounded venomous.

"You haven't heard that yet?" I asked bored.

"I'll take that for a yes," she said, ignoring my sarcasm. She noted something on a piece of paper.

"Why did you decide to betray the village?" she continued.

"You have changed, Sa-ku-ra," I said slowly, grinning inwardly. I would crack her.

"Did you plan to run away ever since you got that seal?" she asked stubbornly, once again ignoring my remark.

I would definitely crack her.

"Did you really think that offering your pathetic twelve year old love would help me in any way?" I sneered, awaiting her reaction. I don't know why I had such pleasure in finding her weak spot. Maybe because I knew there would be one. Or maybe to find the old Sakura inside this new body.

"Did you leave out of cowardice?" she said, pushing herself away from the table.

Now that was low. "You couldn't offer me anything. You were never going to become any stronger in that stupid little village of yours. And don't you know Sakura, you were the worst. The main reason I left. Only crying your eyes out. You were the weakest of them all. Not even worth of remembering."

I received a blank stare. Right after that, she punched me full in the face. I could feel my nose break and I was crashing backwards, still sitting on my chair until it lost its balance and collapsed. That hurt.

I wiped away the blood and Sakura picked me up by my collar.

"I could do this all day long. I can heal your nose again," she said and she did. It still hurt though. "And I could break it again, along with the rest of your bones, or we can do it the way I intended it to, I ask, you talk." Then she let go of me and ordered me to sit down again. Once again, I obeyed but didn't speak.

"Well, let's continue this. I've got all day and so do you," she smirked. "I'm afraid that if you don't work along, I'll have to tie you up and we wouldn't want that now, do we?"

I narrowed my eyes once again. How annoying, but I didn't feel like breaking any more of my bones. "Aa." I would work along… until some level.

* * *

I didn't trust him at all. At least he still remembered me. Maybe I could finally ask the question I'd been dying to ask after those five years. Yet this was not the Sasuke-kun I once knew. I had to be careful not to open myself up to him too much. 

"Did you kill Itachi yet?" I went on with my question. Again, his eyes narrowed and his voice sounded almost angry as he said: "No."

I couldn't help myself but smile sarcastically. "How ironic." But he didn't reply.

"Why did you leave me unconsciously on a bench?" I finally asked. This time, it was his turn to smirk. "You were annoying."

"Weren't you afraid that something might happen to me?" I desperately asked.

"No," was his only answer. Silence filled the air.

"I know enough for now," I said, staring at his beautiful yet cold face. Then I leant forward and whispered: "You're the most ungrateful, egoistic and stupidest person I know. I hate you," I said while tears were welling up in my eyes.

It all happened in a second. He leant forwards as well, kissed my cheek and said, almost satisfied while he watched my widened eyes: "No, you don't."

I considered smacking that arrogant bastard again but I would have to heal him and I didn't feel like it, so I knocked on the door as a sign for one of the guards to take him away again.

Once Sasuke-kun was taken way, I slammed my hand on the table. It cracked, just like my heart.

* * *

Back in the stupid cell, I licked my lips. I could still taste her skin. Sweet and somewhat salty, because of the tears she had shed. Did I feel guilty? No, not at all. She was a shinobi, just like the rest of us. Even though she used to be weak as hell, I couldn't help myself but admire her new strength. I wondered who would've trained her. She would beat Kakashi and Naruto to pulp if she had the chance. Yet, she remained so… innocent at the same time way too naïve. There were still too much emotions involved from her side. 

Karin was right. We had to find a way out of here. I knew the security was optimal. Konoha never liked to take risks with prisoners.

Suddenly, I saw that Sai guy walking by. He had once come to Orochimaru's lair. I wondered what he was doing here… was he here to comfort Sakura? No, he had told us that he had no feelings or whatsoever yet. That could easily have been a lie of course. He had fooled Orochimaru and betrayed his team. One thing was for sure. This guy knew how to lie.

I smirked. Nice replacement.

He would just be the person Sakura would fall for. Dark-haired, unreadable, incapable of feelings and a traitor. As he finally walked back, I got to my feet slowly.

"Oi," I called out and the guy shifted his gaze towards me.

"What's wrong, Sasuke-kun?" he asked, smiling politely.

"How's your relationship towards Sakura?" I asked, yet I didn't know why.

"The relationship?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. "Between me and ugly?"

Ugly? I repeated inwardly. That would make things clear enough. "Never mind," I said and seated myself again. Sai looked at me strangely before he walked away.

Ugly… How was that a nickname? I wondered what Sakura would've done when she heard it. In most guys opinion she wasn't ugly at all. I might not be able to read minds, but I could pretty well imagine how people, that is most guys, would react to my ex-teammate Sakura… in her nurse outfit… Hell, it could even get me… No.

* * *

Stupid. How could he act so incredibly stupid? Well, not that much stupidly, but rather as a jerk. And there I was. In charge of their interrogation while Naruto was recovering in the hospital, kissing me like that. It shouldn't affect me that much really. He was just trying to break me. To provoke me just enough to crack me all the way through. I wished Kakashi was here… I could need some help. 

Alas, my lazy ex-sensei wasn't here to help me. I was a big girl. I could do it on my own. And what I had to do was asking Sasuke-kun back now. For more information of course. It was not like I wanted to see him again. Impatiently, I waited for the door to be opened.

The first thing I saw as he entered the room was his raven black hair. I had to focus on something else. Like that godlike body of his. Oh my god, his chest was way too visible. I swallowed and averted my eyes to his face. He was smirking mockingly. Fuck.

"What are you smirking at?" I spit irritated.

"You," he replied, looking straight into my eyes. "And your lustful gaze," he finished, making me blush.

"Shut up." Then I breathed in to steady my breathing. "What are the names of your companions?" I started.

"Karin, but you might have already heard that, Suigetsu and Juugo." He fell quiet again but was still smirking at me. I bit my lip. Couldn't he just stop it already?

I wrote their names down for further interrogation later on.

"Why did you find it necessary to kiss me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. I wanted to get that out of my system.

"If you call that kissing, than you must never had a real kiss before," he said, still arrogantly smirking at me. My face reddened.

"Like you ever kissed before, you hate women," I replied venomously, but he didn't reply. What did that mean? That he had kissed before? Now way, had he kissed that Karin girl? "You did?" I asked stunned.

"I don't hate women," he simply said, annoying me till no end.

"Have you or have you not kissed someone before?" I felt strangely obsessed.

"Is this part of the interrogation? I wonder if others would have asked the same questions. Are we a little bit jealous, Sa-ku-ra?" he teased me.

He fucking teased me in his position. I slammed my hand on the table and this time it broke. I couldn't help myself but jump to my feet and grab his collar, which was way easier now because the table was gone.

I lowered my face until it only half an inch away from his. "Have you or have you not kissed someone, except for Naruto before?" I grinned in his face, remembering the day they accidently kissed.

His face hardened. With a quick jerk, he pulled me down and I fell onto his lap. His eyes were dangerously looking at me. I gulped at the effect. What was he doing?

"You see, Sakura, I am wondering as to why you got your nickname 'ugly'," he whispered in a low voice. "But I'm only here to answer questions, right?" I nodded stupidly, lamed because of his presence so close to me.

Then, he finally did what I'd been dreaming of so often. He closed the distance between our mouths and kissed me. For real this time.

His lips were delicious upon mine. His mouth softly moved over mine and his tongue was making my lips wet. Hesitantly, I opened my mouth slightly and he used the opportunity to enter it with his tongue.

In the back of my head I was wondering why this all was happening. But I couldn't really care. This was Sasuke-kun we were talking about. Sasuke-kun who was finally captured for interrogation. Oh god, I shouldn't be doing this!

Resentfully, I pushed him away. "What the hell are you doing?" My voice didn't sounds as steady as I wanted it to be. Damn.

"Yes I kissed a woman, is what I can tell you now," he smirked. That stupid smirk of his… I wanted to smack his face. "Are you talking about me now?" I couldn't resist but ask.

"You have a very jealous side on you, Sakura," he replied. "But yes, I was talking about you. Only you. Furthermore, I can tell you, that I want to keep it this way." That statement somewhat shocked me.

"Why?" I managed to let out.

"Because I don't feel the urge to run off and kiss other women. No need to be jealous," he smirked again. I knew there would be one way to wipe that smirk of his away and now it was my turn to smirk. In response, he lifted his eyebrow, but then I crashed my mouth onto his.

Being a ninja was shoved way back into my mind. I was taking advantage of the situation. To my surprise, he eagerly responded. But why?

"Sasuke…" I breathed between his kisses.

"Mhm?" he murmured in response.

"Why are you doing…" His kiss captured me again, but then, he was getting the message.

I could feel his lips curl against my mouth. "Don't you like it?" he asked, travelling with his mouth along my jaw, making his way to my neck, while I gasped for air. "Because I do," he finished his sentence. "Do you?" I muttered unsteadily.

"I couldn't imagine… how good it would feel," he murmured thoughtfully against my skin. I gulped.

"Does that mean you thought about it then?" I dared to ask.

The answer to that question had to wait, since the door was suddenly opened by my shishou, a.k.a. the Hokage, currently seeing her apprentice on the lap of an S-rank missing nin, being kissed by the traitor and not protesting the slightest bit. I froze in place. Oh dear god, this was my death sentence.

Yet, despite anything I thought, going against all the odds, she smiled. It totally freaked me out.

"Uchiha," she said, directing herself against the boy who was softly kissing my neck. He stopped in his tracks and looked up.

"Aa…?" he said, awaiting the Godaime's reaction.

"I see you're getting along with your former teammate fairly well. Since I came here to tell Sakura that the interrogation was no longer necessary and that her new duty would be to prevent you from any stupid business like running of again. I think this is rather fortunate." She nodded approvingly.

Just what the hell was this? It was okay for me to fool around with an S-rank missing nin, who betrayed Konoha? This was madness, yet who was I to argue the Hokage's decisions?

"Then I'll leave the two of you again," she smiled, walking out the door.

Was she drunk already?

"Don't you think it's…" I started, but was cut off by Sasuke-kun's demanding mouth.

* * *

Delicious, absolutely delicious. I never really was a fan of sweets but this would change my mind forever. If I would spell out my thoughts for her, innocent, naïve little Sakura, she would be shocked. I mentally smirked. That, I would save for later. If I wouldn't know any better, I'd say my fucking brother had sent her to distract me. But I knew her too well for that. She could never be capable of that. Innocent little Sakura. With a sardonic pleasure I remembered her tears from yesterday. 

"Sasuke…"

Just the way she was moaning my name now… No, this wasn't me. All of a sudden I stopped, leaving her in confusion.

"Sa-Sasuke?" she asked uncertainly and hurt.

That innocence of her… Pink, innocent girl.

Oh damn. I wondered how many of those assholes who called themselves 'good guys' had dated this innocent girl.

I couldn't help myself but crash my mouth onto hers again. I wanted to get out of here, take her with me and leave. I didn't care for the rest of team Hebi, they would make it out of here theirselves. My mouth travelled down her collarbone. Sakura rewarded me with one of her moans.

Once again, I wondered what the hell I was doing. Her hands grabbed my head and her fingers entangled themselves in my hair. Whenever I wiped my tongue across her sensitive skin, she clutched her hands together, pulling on my hair.

She had never forgotten about me. No way she could. This time I would make sure that she wouldn't ever forget about me.

Then the stupid door bursted open once more.

"Sakura-chan, where's… TEME!" Naruto screamed from the top of his lungs. There was nothing funny about that.

I felt that Sakura was cocking her head up. I looked at her flushed face and then activated my Sharingan. I glared at the blonde dobe in the door opening.

"Get lost," I said coldly.

Slowly, his eyes were about to turn red as well. It was then, that Sakura sprang to her feet and dashed off to him. She threw her arms around his neck. "Naruto, calm down, please," I heard her whisper soothingly to the dobe and his expression relaxed. I noticed her glowing hand. She must've been sending some of her chakra through his body. Interesting. Sakura knew how to control the Kyuubi powers.

Yet, it wasn't only the effect of the chakra that calmed Naruto down. He must really love her. Not as a crush, but as a real and true friend. That boy really had to learn not to give his love away so easily, for his heart cold be broken. For instance, the fact that I would abduct Sakura tonight.

"That's all!" I could suddenly hear her say. I'd probably been too occupied with my thoughts to hear their conversation. "If that's really all there is to," Naruto grunted in return, still angry obviously. "Otherwise I would kill him twice," he added, glaring in my direction. I wasn't intimidated by that stupid idiot.

"Naruto! Just calm down," Sakura replied, half smiling, half concerned.

"Hn, if he'll hurt your feelings, I will rip off his balls myself, dattebayo," Naruto finally finished his rampage.

Sakura smiled adoringly at him, but then as he finally looked at her again instead of glaring at me, her look became annoyed. She didn't want him to know that deep down, she loved him as much as he loved her. How pathetic. Feelings weren't allowed once you decided to become a shinobi. Feelings made one weak. I couldn't allow myself to be weak. Not until Uchiha was burnt. That bastard had made sure to strip me from every loving or appreciating feeling in the world. Even though I wanted to have a family of my own again, I didn't think I could love my wife. Of course I would be able to love or at least like my own children. After all, they would be my own flesh and blood, but my wife for that matter, she should be able to live with that. And that was it. Case closed.

* * *

The last thing I remembered was being asleep, finally, I might add before awakening in the middle of the night from a cold breeze. I seriously remembered falling asleep in my own bed. Then what was I doing here in mid-air in the middle of the woods? 

Oh yeah, right, I was being kidnapped.

Wait… WHAT?!

I looked over my shoulder and saw the ebony hair of no one else but Sasuke-kun. How dared he?

"Sasuke!" I growled weakly. Damnit, I wanted to sound threatening, not like I was actually enjoying what he was doing, but felt obligated to protest.

He didn't look over his shoulder. "Hn, shut up," he replied, sounding stronger than I had.

There wasn't much I could do, but I could…

Carefully, I filled one of my hands with chakra, forcefully pushing his carrying arm away. But damn, it hadn't thought about the consequences. So I dropped down pretty fast. I gulped. There were only three possibilities.

One: Sasuke would jump down and catch me before I would hit the ground.

_20 feet left…_

Two: Hit the ground and knock my head on the way, meaning it would be easier for him to take me away.

_15 feet left…_

Three: Land on my feet and get the hell out of here.

_7 feet left…_

As quickly as I could, I spun around, right before Sasuke-kun's greedy hands could catch me. As soon as I hit the ground beneath me, I bend my knees and pushed my body up to the sky again, ready to leave this place. I masked my chakra and jumped into the welcoming trees, filling with fresh green leaves.

I didn't have to look back to know that he was following me. I had to hurry back to Konoha. Just where the hell was I? I had no idea of how long I'd been on my way already.

I felt startled as I felt hot breath in the back of my neck, but when I turned around, I saw nothing. Must've been the wind. When I turned back around, Sasuke-kun was right in front of me. Fuck.

"Did you really think you were the only one who could mask his chakra?" he asked sarcastically and haughty. Whenever he was near me, whether he was talking to me, or just close to me, I felt like such a klutz, so weak.

"Sakura," he said, jumping on the same branch I was standing now. "Help me." Then he crushed his longing mouth onto mine and I desperately tried to fight for air.

Once I could finally breathe again, I spoke. "I can help you. We all can. Let's go back to Konoha and get the others together."

His cold laugh made me stop talking. "What do you think? That they will help me? Not within the next three years. That is, if I live through. You know that they won't help me. But I need you to help me Sakura." He stared intensely at me and I tried to wet my dry mouth. "I can't," I whispered. "I will become a traitor like you… I will become a missing nin…" I said with moist eyes, thinking of Kakashi, Tsunade-shishou, Shizune-senpai, Ino and Naruto. They needed me there. I couldn't put their trust in me on the line.

"I need you Sakura. I have to kill that man with my own hands," he said and his eyes glowed dangerously red. "Come with me," he said softer now.

I gulped again. Something in his eyes made me cross the line and tears were running over my cheeks as I replied, thinking of my friends and beloved ones. "Hai."

That moment, I became a traitor…

* * *

_Yet, __at some point __we cannot always comprehend what is happening. This was her point._

* * *

**Yeah well... I think there will be one or two more parts. I hope you liked it! I'll update my other stories ASAP. I'd like to hear your opinion on this story though, so if you'd be that kind :puppy-eyes: **_  
_


	2. Part two: Being with you

**And another chapter, my christmas gift to you. Merry christmas to all of you! I hope you'll have fun. **

**Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine and the song 'It's my party' by Lesley Gore neither! Lol, I love that song, I sing along with the chorus all the time XD But the problem is, I can't sing, lol. Poor people listening. **

**But now: Enjoy! **

* * *

**Escape **

**Part 2: Being with you.**

_It's my party and I cry if I want to, cry if I want to…_

You know, being a traitor was really not that bad. No, wait, I have to tell it right. One of the worst thing I could have ever done, was abandoning Konoha. It was never my intention to leave Naruto, Kakashi, Ino and even Sai behind. I had betrayed the trust of Tsunade-sama. Yet being a missing nin wasn't really what I'd expected it to be. It was not like we had to run for our lives or had to keep an eye out every minute. It was rather peaceful and I had to be with Sasuke-kun all the time.

He had been so thoughtful to pack some of my stuff. Well, it also meant that he had been roaming through my panties. At least he'd packed convenient clothes and things like a toothbrush, food and well, you get the picture.

We'd been away for only two days now and I guess they had finally noticed that we were gone for good. I didn't even want to think about Naruto. I hoped that he wouldn't turn into the Kyuubi. Even though Yamato-taichou had been the only one who could control the Kyuubi form, I had developed my own technique to prevent the change at all.

"Sakura, we're going," Sasuke-kun said. Naturally, he had assigned himself the leader. He knew where we were heading after all. At least, I hope he did.

"Hai, hai," I replied and packed the things we had used during our little break.

I stood up and set my rucksack in place.

"Ready to go, taichou," I joked and he threw me one of his glares. He didn't like it to be called 'taichou' is what I found out. As for any kissing like before? None, I could tell you that much. I sighed. Why had I decided to come along in the first place? Oh yeah, right. The situation. Like it was some sort of shojo manga. Pathetic. But now was not the time to turn my back on him, for many reasons, that is. When I had to stay with him, I could at least find enough information to find out where he would be heading once I got back to Konoha. The illusion that he would join me afterwards had been long gone.

"We're heading north," Sasuke-kun said, pointing in the right direction.

"I know where north is," I replied irritated and he smirked.

"Then let's go," he said and attempted to jump, but I grabbed his shirt. "Hold on, where are we going anyway?" I asked him. That had been the question I'd had for the past two days.

"The place where Itachi has been seen last," he finally replied after a silence.

"How do you know where that would be?" I asked curious.

"I just do," he grunted and jumped away this time. I sighed and followed him. Did I already mention that living with Sasuke-kun was hard?

* * *

It was annoying, highly annoying. Well, _she_ wasn't that annoying. The whole situation was though. Leaving Konoha again and taking her with me this time. Even though she wasn't as obnoxious as I remembered he to be. She obeyed my orders quite well. I smirked. She would come in handy, that's what it is.

As I abducted her, she had been an easy target. She'd been sleeping with her window open for fuck's sake. It was as if she wanted me to kidnap her in the first place.

Her healing ability would be splendid. That man was about to die.

After a few hours the night was beginning to fall and I knew that it would be for the best if we'd set up camp for tonight.

"We'll stay here," I said.

Her jade, piercing eyes were looking through me. "Why?"

Annoying, annoying, annoying. "Because I say so," I glared back at her.

Sakura just saluted. "Hai, Uchiha-taichou!" she was mocking me.

"Would you quit that?" I snapped, glaring at her petite figure.

"Quit what?" she asked innocently, putting her bag on the ground.

"Stop calling me 'taichou'. It's annoying. _You_annoy me," I replied, because in the end she did. I had already started to unpack my bag. What had I been thinking?

"Wouldn't you like to be the captain?" she asked, pulling a tent out of her bag.

"I_ am_ the captain of this two-man cell, but there is no need to call me taichou. You annoy me to hell." I grunted, grabbing the tent out of her hands. "By the way, we're not sleeping in the tent. It's too much of a burden to wrap it up again. Two sleeping bags will do," I instructed her.

"I tend to be annoying," she muttered, searching her bag for another sleeping bag, since she already pulled one out.

"Yes, indeed," I mumbled, remembering our genin days.

She had to think about it too, since she grinned evilly. "Sasuke-kun, since youré still a genin, and I am a jounin… shouldn't I be the taichou?" she flashed an evil grin at me and I just glared back. "Don't get the wrong idea here. Just keep searching," I snapped, irritated by the waist of time and the fact that she indeed was right.

After a few more minutes, in which I easily could have prepared the tent, she turned around. "Are you sure you don't have the other sleeping bag?"

"Give me that," I replied angrily and grabbed her rucksack. I started searching thought it, yet the result remained the same. No extra sleeping bag. Then I grumpily started looking through mine. No second sleeping bag either.

"You must've forgotten it last night," she said carefully, though I could see her eyes glister triumphantly. I had indeed made a mistake, being the one who'd repacked our stuff last night.

"You can have this one," I said highly annoyed now.

"No, you take it. you'll never know when we'll encounter Itachi and you have to fight him," she replied stubbornly, pushing it back to me.

"You're the medic, take it," I said, glaring at her. Stupid pink-haired girl.

"I can't cure a cold," she scowled.

I sighed heavily. All this distraction, delaying my goal. But no, I had to take her along. "Fine, we'll share it," I snapped.

Sakura blinked thrice. Then a blush crept up her face. "What?"

"I said we'll share it," I repeated slowly.

"Share it… with you?" I could see her swallow. Her blush deepened. "It's not big enough for both of us," she protested weakly.

"Well, we don't have time to set up the tent anymore. There is no option left. It's unavoidable… and annoying," I replied impatiently. Couldn't she just agree, so we could get over with this?

Her face seemed to be glowing now. "Just get ready to get in there," I growled. Even though the days were relatively warm, the nights could be very cold on the contrary. "It won't kill you," I added. "Lying in the cold night just might."

Sakura looked over to the sleeping bag and nodded then. "Alright," she finally agreed.

Yes, I had to bring her along. The presumed prodigy himself. How stupid. How annoying.

* * *

Me and Sasuke-kun, sharing one bed… Well, not really a bed of course, but one tight sleeping bag. It might be even worse. I gulped and straightened my shoulders. Quickly, I prepared myself to go to sleep and slipped into the substitute bed.

Sasuke-kun shook his head in annoyance, the hundredth time that day; I was certain and followed me. So… damn… tight. I felt him fidgeting around and suddenly, his chest was pressed my back and his arm slipped around my waist. I stiffened but didn't say a word.

"Anything wrong?" his voice sounded somewhere way too near my ear and it sent shivers down my spine.

"No, not at all," I said professionally. At least it sounded better than I was feeling at the moment. Have to remember: this is the bastard who left us and knocked Naruto unconsciously, twice, I told myself.

"Good night," I whispered, but he didn't reply. I was truly having trouble sleeping, while his body was pressed oh so close against mine.

All of a sudden, I felt very heavy and last day's events finally caught up on me. Tears were silently rolling down my cheeks and I tried to keep my shoulders from twitching.

Somehow though, he noticed and easily turned me around. He pressed my head against his hard chest and this made me cry even harder. I felt so ashamed. It was like I couldn't do anything but cry when he was around. And even now, now he was everything I got at the moment, I cried over the loss of my friends and the loss of my village.

Sasuke-kun started rubbing my back. "It's okay," he whispered, softer than I'd ever heard him speak before. That made my heard nearly break. He was hunting his brother for fuck's sake. Yet, I was the one crying once again.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed quietly.

"Don't be. It's alright," he whispered.

My sobs slowly quieted down and he finally pushed me a little bit away from his now wet chest, but only to look down on my teary face. Once again, it was hard to read his emotions. His hands had cupped my face and his eyes were travelling over my face, his thumbs brushing away my tears. I wanted things to stay like this so desperately, that I even held my breath. Anxiously, I kept staring at his handsome face. It came closer and closer, closing the space between us. Then, all of a sudden, he licked one of my tears away and I let my breath escape. The moment I opened my mouth, he shove his mouth onto mine and kissed me.

This was not like last time. Last time, it had been me and Sasuke-kun in a building with other people. We were alone here. This was dangerous. It even felt dangerous. The things that could happen here… He was still kissing me, and I kissed him back willingly. This time, I could feel his hands travelling down my body, slipping underneath my shirt and travel up again. My heart was throbbing in my chest. Of course I'd thought about this many times, but it was now actually happening and the circumstances were a lot different from what I had imagined. I didn't dare to speak now. His hand was on my belly, his thumb now caressing my navel. Slowly, his left hand went up further and reached my bra. (Because we were sleeping out here, I left it on). Yet he didn't go there yet. His hand slowly explored my back and I shivered some more.

"Touch me," he muttered intoxicated as I kept on lying there, not moving an inch. Even though it sounded like an order, it didn't feel like one. He actually wanted to feel my hands on his skin. I let my hand travel from his cheek, down to his chest, memorizing every detail of his body. I pulled that ugly wide shirt of his loose and let my hands glide to his back. If let his strong shoulders and my hands went over his shoulders, back to his chest.

Meanwhile, his finger was slipped under my bra and a little "Oh!" escaped my mouth as he fully unclasped it. Very slowly and very teasingly, he followed the fabric of my bra to my breasts. Once he was there, his hand slowly slipped underneath and he cupped my breast for the first time. Another "Oh!" followed from me as he started playing with it. This time though, it sounded more like a moan.

He now released his other hand from my cheek and his left hand left my breast for a moment. I sighed in disappointment. His hands moved to the hem of my shirt and he intended to pull my whole shirt off! Quickly, I slipped my hands into his pants. They were making contact with that Uchiha bum of his now. My hands + Uchiha bum delicious.

Sasuke-kun smirked and pulled my upper clothing out of his way. His mouth left mine and searched for the nipple he had been playing with earlier. Oh dear god, I think we might have found a new hobby.

* * *

Her hands were still on my ass while she was gasping for air. She must've noticed my hard-on already. For me, it was very difficult to ignore. My pants weren't the only things that were tight here though. If it wasn't for this damn sleeping bag, things would never have ended up like this in the first place. But then, shouldn't I be grateful instead?

Thoughtfully, I let my tongue glide over her nipple, receiving another moan from her.

It was then that I suddenly realized what I was doing. I had to get a grip on myself. For fuck's sake, this was Sakura we were talking about. Even my evil and twisted mind couldn't possible agree with this. Rather coldly, I handed her stuff over to her, saying: "You should put in back on, or you'll wind up with a cold after all." For her, it probably came out of nowhere, but fuck, I was about to take her innocence!

Her face seemed somewhat devastated, but soon her expression became stoic. "That would probably be for the best," she agreed, and dressed again.

Meanwhile, I had put my shirt on properly. Somewhere, I felt guilty. But guild, so I learnt, was one of the emotions that would only interfere with your goals and I pushed it far away.

When Sakura was dressed again, she turned her back towards me and laid there quietly. I kept my hands to myself this time and sighed inwardly. So far, bringing her along with me hadn't turned out like such a good idea at all. Hopefully, this would change, and hopefully my hormones would stop getting the better of me.

I knew instinctively that she was crying, but I couldn't touch or comfort her. If I would, we would just start there where we'd left off or things would get highly awkwardly. I just kept my hands to myself and ignored her warm body pressed tightly against mine. Hopefully, I would fall asleep soon. Even though I would have my nightmares, which I always had, my mind would be occupied by them and not by my own disturbing thoughts. Slowly, I drifted away into sleep, next to the pink-haired annoyance.

-Dream-

"_You'll die this time," Sasuke spoke, glaring at his brother. Instead of attacking him though, Itachi enveloped his hand around Sakura's wrist. "You won't harm her," he replied coldly._

_Sasuke was taken aback, but then he snapped. "Step away from her!"_

"_No, I won't let my foolish little brother harm Sakura-chan," Itachi said, protecting the girl by standing in front of her._

"_Yes, Sasuke. Itachi-kun will protect me from you," Sakura said from behind his brother's back._

"_But Sakura…" Sasuke said, not knowing what to do._

"_You will be the one who dies!" Itachi's usually cool and polite attitude was now replaced by an odd, high-pitched laugh._

"_Sakura! Step away from him, he's dangerous!"Sasuke cried out in despair._

"_We'll get married after your death," Itachi announced and Sasuke could see that Sakura now was in a bride's dress._

"_Sakura, no!"_

"_Sasuke-kun…"_

-End Dream-

"Sasuke-kun!" Someone was shaking my body to wake me up. Someone with a familiar voice. I opened my eyes slowly and saw familiar pink hair as well. "Sakura?" I asked sleepily.

"It's alright. You were just having a nightmare," she whispered soothingly. It was still pretty dark. I could only have been asleep for two hours. Slowly, the dream faded away from my mind. This hadn't been the first time I had dreamt this. I had been having this dream ever since we got out of Konoha. Yet, this was the first time she was calling him _Itachi-kun_. I shuddered with horror. Crazy, twisted mind.

I frowned at Sakura, who had waked me up and couldn't forget the image of her standing behind my brother. She smiled at me, but I didn't react to it. I turned around and tried to fall asleep again. I had hurt her once more, I knew. For the rest of the night, her voice was hunting my dreams.

* * *

He had hurt me again, but then, what had I been expecting? I had awoken him from his nightmare after he'd clearly said: "Sakura!"

He'd waken me up earlier, since he had been twisting around in the limited space we had. I wondered what he had been dreaming about.

My heart felt cold in my chest, like a cold, icy hand was holding it in place. He would probably hurt me again and I had no idea why I would actually expect anything more form him. It was foolish to think that I could change him. Nobody had been able to for the past years, not even Naruto. He'd attempted to kill Naruto thrice already.

Naruto… how are you? I miss your ever cheery laugh. You were the one who actually bonded with Sasuke-kun. I hadn't been able to. Was that the reason I had tagged along? Did I want to form a strong bond with Sasuke-kun? Who was I trying to fool, my own heart? There was no such thing as bonding with him. The only bond he accepted was the one formed by strong hatred. Only Itachi had the 'privilege' to have a bond with Sasuke-kun. I had to get out of this as soon as possible. I knew I would never leave him alone now. Perhaps, I would be able to outrun or outfight him or at least distract him long enough for me to run away. But then, I knew he would persuade me to stay and we would only lose time like that. All I could hope for in the end was that we would find Itachi soon, so that this would be over. I'd rather prefer sooner than later.

With that last thought, I as well fell asleep now.

The next morning, I was the first to wake up. I got out of our substitute bed and prepared some food for us. By the time Sasuke-kun woke up, I had already finished my breakfast and had started reading one of the medical books Sasuke-kun had brought along. I think by accident though.

"What are you reading there?" he asked sleepily once he had opened his eyes.

"One of my medical books," I replied, focusing on the page.

He didn't reply, but got out of the sleeping bag and folded it back together, so that it would fit back into my rucksack. He ate his breakfast quietly and let me read.

"Today, we'll reach a village, where Itachi has been recently. We'll stay there for the night, so we can properly sleep. Tomorrow, we'll probably catch up with them," he said.

"How do you know where they're going?" I asked curiously. Every day, he knew exactly where to go and pointed out our way precisely.

"I just do." And he remained pretty vague about it as well. "We're leaving," he announced, his onyx eyes looking at me. I left the conversation for what it was and packed my stuff. Finally, I was ready to go.

The day remained pretty quiet and normal. Not even once, he started about last night's happenings. I felt hurt. No matter how often I told myself not to get too worked up about it, after all this was Sasuke-kun I was dealing with, I couldn't help myself but blame me for getting involved in all of this.

That night, we reached the village Sasuke-kun had been talking about. With his money, he rent us a room with two separate beds..

Once we got there, he said: "Sakura, we need to buy another sleeping bag."  
My stomach hurt and felt twisted. "Hai, I know," I replied and I swallowed uneasily. This was it, he was bringing up last night. "I want to talk about our encounter tomorrow," he started instead. I was taken aback, but listened nonetheless. After all, this was important for both of us.

"We need to be prepared. Of course, I will fight him. You'll heal me if anything might go wrong, if it doesn't you'll stay out of it." He looked at me to see if I'd comprehend. I nodded slowly.

"In case I die," he said and my stomach ached some more. Don't die, I thought. "I want you to…" He wanted me to finish the fight? "Run away. He doesn't have any business with you. If I die, I want you to leave it all behind and go back to Konoha. Tell them I kidnapped you, don't tell them the real reason you left. They'll take you back in. Promise me, Sakura," his eyes were piercing mine, and I swallowed again.

"I promise," was all I could say. Where did that sudden concern come from?

"Good. Now let's sleep." Sasuke-kun stood up and walked to his bed. I followed his lead and walked to mine.

As I was lying in my bed, feeling odd about the raven-haired boy in the other bed, feeling concerned about me in some strange way. I couldn't help but worry about him. What if he really died? I had promised to leave him behind, but could I really do that? I wondered. No, I didn't think I could. I would finish his fight for him avenge him and his family, putting my life on the line. Shinobi didn't run away, they fought no matter what.

Don't die… Sasuke-kun… Not now I finally have you back. Please… Then I fell asleep with salty tears running down my cheeks.

_Cry if I want to! You would cry too if it happened to you…_

* * *

**The real lyrics don't quite fit the story, but I only used parts of them, lol. I hope you liked it. I'll update in some time. I think (by the story I've got in mind now) there will be 3 more parts.**_  
_


	3. Part three: Darkness vs Brightness

**The third chapter is here. I'm sorry that it took such a long time! I hope you'll like it!**

* * *

**_Escape part 3:_**_** Darkness vs. Brightness**_

_Escaping the darkness, the darkness that had started roaming in her heart. That was what she wanted._**  
**

* * *

I woke up the next morning feeling pretty much down. I rolled around and coughed, noticing that my throat was hurting pretty bad. There was no time to get ill! We needed to catch Itachi! Actually catch was the wrong word… 

I sat up straight and groaned. My head felt like it had been smashed several times and my eyelids felt heavy. I reached my hands up to my head and massaged my temples. I snapped my eyes open and saw that, at least, I was still in the room I'd fallen asleep yesterday. That was a good sign. My headache and my throat were a bad omen though. I couldn't afford to get ill. That meant that I just would have to keep it a secret from Sasuke-kun.

"Not feeling too well?" a familiar voice startled me. Damn, he popped out of nowhere, like a good shinobi should be able to, I added sourly.

"I'm alright," I grunted. Lies of course.

Sasuke-kun snapped the lights on without any warning. It was like the light was burning his way through my eyes to the very core of my head. My stomach turned upside down. The headache was making me nauseate.

"You're not," he smirked evilly.

I glowered darkly at him, for as much as I could, since my eyes were opened only the slightest bit.

"You should rest," he replied my gaze, not the least intimidated. He turned around and walked to the door.

"I can't! We have to keep moving; otherwise Itachi will be long gone!" I protested. How could he say such a thing? He wasn't… "You aren't leaving me behind are you? I'm a medic! I can heal myself."Sasuke-kun stopped in his tracks. "I'm not leaving you behind. I took you with me for a reason. I know you're a medic, but I'm ordering you to rest at least for as long as I'm gone for now," he cut me off.

"No!" I sprang to my feet and immediately regretted it. A wave of nauseate took me over and I became very dizzy. In fact, I had the feeling that the ground was moving up, or was I…?

A moment later, I found myself in the strong and very supporting arms of Uchiha Sasuke-kun. Apparently, I was feeling a lot worse than I had thought. Now that sucked.

Sasuke-kun placed me on the bed with an angry look which said: "Told you so," quite annoyed.

"Don't look at me like that," I muttered annoyed, looking the other way. He grabbed my chin though and turned it so he could face me.

"You rest here, Sakura. I have to step out for a bit." His onyx eyes were mesmerizing me. So unfair…

"But I can heal myself!" I said and coughed again. "See?" I said and tried to fill my hand with chakra, but it wouldn't come out steadily. I frowned. This had never happened before.

"Sharingan," Sasuke-kun said calmly and his eyes were becoming red, his tomoes swirling around now. "Your chakra isn't flowing normally," he told me, while I was still staring at his handsome face.

Slowly, he looked up at me again. "Sakura, go to sleep now." His voice sounded hypnotic. My eyes were becoming heavy while my head was still pounding. "Sasuke-kun," I mumbled sleepily.

"Go to sleep," he said softly. It felt like his finger tops were stroking my cheeks, but that must have been my imagination.

"You Meany," I said, while I closed my eyes. My brain was nice and fuzzy now. "I love you," I added muttering before I fell asleep. Stupid gen-jutsu…

* * *

Finally she was asleep now, I sighed inwardly. Even though she was ill, which was extremely obvious, she still was so stubborn. So annoying. At least I can count on her, I thought. It did feel wrong to use a gen-jutsu to put her asleep though. She could have dispelled it easily if she'd been feeling any better. She had probably seen easily through it, I smirked. That was my Sakura. My Sakura? She had told me that she loved me once more… So annoying. 

After tucking her in, only to make sure she wouldn't get any more ill, I could see that her cheeks were glowing brightly, forming a contrast with her pink-hair. A little bit worried I felt her forehead and it felt hot. Too hot in my opinion. I didn't know what to do, so I gave her one last look and walked away. She would be just fine.

First, I had to go and buy some stuff now.

While I was walking through the streets nearby the place we were staying, searching for a store, I was thinking about the nuisance I had just left. Sakura had to get well soon, I thought. We had to continue our search quickly. I only knew where to find Itachi because of the files I'd stolen from Kabuto. Knowing my brother (oh the irony) he wouldn't stay in one place for too long. Once I didn't know where to go anymore, it would become rather difficult to trace him and that fish idiot who was traveling along him. I didn't really intend to fight them both at the same time.

I didn't know the limits of Sakura so I couldn't depend on her fighting Kisame or at least keep him occupied. Not if she had to be my back-up and heal me.

I furrowed my brow. Now I was thinking about it, maybe it would be a good idea if we would spar first before we actually encountered my sweet nii-chan. After all, only if one knew every aspect one had to deal with, you could make a good strategy. That included the weaknesses of your own cell. So I decided to fight Sakura as soon as she was feeling better.

Meanwhile, I had arrived at the shop where I could buy a new sleeping bag. The girl behind the cash register was staring at me with an adoring look. Hell, she looked as if she wanted to share that every sleeping bag with me. I started back in annoyance and she blushed, averting her gaze quickly.

"Ano…" she started and I sighed inwardly, knowing what was coming now.

"I was wondering…" she blushed deeper and still didn't dare to look at me straightly. I crossed my arms, waiting for her to continue, since I couldn't get out of here without paying. "I'm off early today and…" she had gathered all her courage and stared at some point passed my right ear now and asked: "Would you like to go on a date with me?" in one breath. Now it was for me to decide whether to go the polite or the direct way.

"No." After all, I didn't really do polite, right?

Her eyes widened in awe by my rudeness but I couldn't care less.

Quickly and highly embarrassed, she continued her job and gave me my bag. By the time I left, she looked at the verge of crying. My my, how annoying.

I walked out of the store and started searching for a pharmacy. Sakura had to get well soon, otherwise she would be too much to care for and that would be annoying. I couldn't use her when she was ill. This would be about the first time that she would actually be useful to me and it would be just like her to screw that up by getting herself too worked up and overwork herself and get even more ill. Stupid girl.

Her image popped up in my head. Sakura: pink hair, jade eyes, slim figure, small girl, smooth skin, silky hair… it reminded me of the other day when she was lying nearly naked….

I shook my head, no distractions were allowed. And most definitely not from the girl I was traveling with. She would end up hurt anyway. I breathed out, not even aware of the fact that I'd been holding it all the time. Time to buy medicine for that obstinate girl.

* * *

I was opening my eyes briefly, finding myself lying in bed with a wet towel on my (way too large) forehead. Was Sasuke-kun back already? I had no sense of time and was therefore unaware of the current time. I couldn't remember lying down in bed. Did Sasuke-kun…? No, I couldn't assume something like that. My fever was rising and my chakra flow had become even more disturbing, since earlier this day. My head was still throbbing and the blood was pounding in my veins. Next to my bed, I saw a glass of water and some medicine. Now I must be really delirious. Maybe I couldn't remember lying down on this bed, but Sasuke-kun actually caring for me while I was being ill was just too much. My cheeks started glowing even more and I supported my upper body with my elbows. Slowly I reached out for the glass and took the medicine. Exhausted already, I fell back and my vision became blurry before turning black. Ah, time to go back to sleep, I thought sarcastically. 

Xxx

Sometime later, I woke up again, feeling slightly better. Yet then, I saw Sasuke-kun sitting next to my bed. Clearly, I felt worse than I thought.

"Sasuke-kun?" I asked hoarsely and tried to squeeze out a smile. "What are you doing here?" My throat punished me for my attempt to speak and smile. I coughed again and it felt like I had eaten razors for breakfast.

Sasuke-kun started at me with his onyx eyes. Did I mention how beautiful his eyes looked? They mirror his inner pain sometimes. If I could only take that pain away and help him. I know I wasn't big a help before. I wasn't kidding myself with that.

Sasuke-kun looked serious, but then, he always did. He did make me feel self-conscious though. Quietly, I was waiting for an answer.

"You don't look too well," he replied seriously.

"That's just what a girl wants to hear," I muttered half sourly, half jokingly. "Why are you sitting here?" I continued, "Or am I just dreaming?"

Once again, silence filled the air. When I was about to open my mouth again, he cut me off by saying: "Don't talk so much." Then he got up from his chair, passed me the medicine and lay down on his own bed, without another word, I took the medicine once more and soon after I fell asleep again. Sasuke-kun was sure acting weird today.

* * *

I had been observing her sleeping figure for almost an hour while sitting next to her. I couldn't help but thinking the most disturbing thoughts, making me feel like Kakashi's proud student. Now I was lying here on my bed, trying not to jump her for fuck's sake, and trying even harder not to think about her at all. But with like most things, trying _not_ to think about something or even trying to ban it out, it made me think about her even more. Like the way she had been looking when she slowly opened her eyes. Like when she was moving in her sleep, the wet cloth that I had put on her forehead had fallen down… obligating me to put it back in place. It almost scared me to realize what kind of effect the girl was having on me. She'd never even perked my interest the slightest bit back then, not even Karin, who had been trying so pathetically hard to seduce me, hadn't even sparked my interest at all. Yet this sickly girl somehow managed to sneak into my head. Maybe it was because I hadn't seen her in such a long time, or maybe I was just a sick pervert who wanted to take advantage of that mentally weak girl. 

Without even realizing it, I had created a coldhearted, indifferent image over the past years. But I wasn't coldhearted. I could be very passionate about killing my brother. If I would have been coldhearted, I wouldn't have cared less about my family's death. It was more like I had stored my feelings somewhere save; somewhere no one could ever reach, let alone, touch them. Any signs of weakness would be destroyed immediately. It had made me selfish though. The little prodigy who could never reach his brother. The kid who always ended in second place. The boy who could only disappoint his father. At least I hadn't killed him, I thought sarcastically. And at least they had been there back then. Back when I was young. Faith had made me an avenger. Yet, that pink-haired nuisance had tried to be there for me I guess. Trying to support me while I was only thinking about myself. Now once again, I was only thinking of how I could use her to destroy my brother, once again, she was helping me. Even now, now she was so fucking ill, lying there in her bed, not being able to do anything but sleep. Even now, she was trying to help me. How thoughtful, how stupid.

How could she not realize how stupid she was? It was so pathetic that it made me want to laugh out loud. I got up and walked over to her bed. Hovering over her and watching her red cheeks burning with fever, while she was sleeping peacefully made me want to laugh even harder.

Stupid, stupid girl. How could she not realize that she would only be hurt when she was dealing with me? She used to be so smart.

A smirk spread over my face while I was staring at her.

Suddenly she opened her eyes and saw me standing next to her bed. First, she looked confused, but then, her face brightened and she smiled, whispering: "Sasuke-kun is laughing, I'm glad you smile." Then her eyes closed again and she slept again.

Even under these circumstances, she felt happy that I was smiling? I didn't understand her at all. Wouldn't it be making more sense to cry over her friends she'd left at home? Why did she care about me anyway? Why would she care about what happened to me?

Absentmindedly, I took the cloth off her forehead and wetted it again, replacing the now cold and wet cloth.

I walked back to my bed and let myself fall down upon it. What a weird girl she was. Tired, I fell asleep myself now.

_Sakura was lying in bed with white sheets and a white pillow. She herself was as white as a sheet as well. When Sasuke touched her, she didn't move. When he checked her pulse, he discovered that there wasn't any. His eyes widened in horror. She had died of her cold? When he pulled her sheets back, there was a bloody mess. Had Itachi been here?_

_"It wasn't me, my foolish little brother," Itachi spoke, emerging out of nowhere."How could you forget the work of your own two hands; the sadistic pleasure it gave you? How can you not know about the chaos you were causing in her heart? Darkness was roaming her heart for such a long time. In the very end, it tore her body apart. She didn't die because of a cold. She died because of you." Silence filled the air and Itachi walked over to Sakura. He kneeled down next to her and held his hand hovering over her chest._

_Sasuke couldn't move but looked in awe at his brother and at the dead girl lying on the bed. _

_"Sakura-chan, come here," he whispered and a transparent figure, impersonating Sakura appeared over her body._

_"Itachi-kun, you were calling me?" she replied emotionless._

_"Aa, my little brother here would like to have a word with you, Sakura-chan."_

_Her head turned around and she stared blankly at Sasuke._

_"What is it, Sasuke-san," she asked remotely, not implying any emotion into her voice._

_"How did you die?" he asked quietly, staring at her. His eyes couldn't leave her face._

_"You killed me, Sasuke-san." Then she turned her head back to Itachi. "Didn't you tell him, Itachi-kun?"_

_"He did," Sasuke butted in before Itachi could answer her monotone question. "I wanted to hear it from you, to verify its truth," he __swallowed._

_She was now looking at him again. Her eyes were empty. "Why would you doubt your nii-chan's words? You killed me without even touching me. You ignored __me;__ you hurt my feelings over and over again. You used me while I loved you. It was that one-sided love that killed me. You abducted me, took me away from my __friends so__ I had no one left to support me. No one left who loved me –__"she__replied,__ but Sasuke cut her off fierce. _

_"So? You were just like me! Because I hadn't anyone left either! No one who supported me either! Because my brother, whom you call 'Itachi-kun' killed my family!" he panted heavily and his eyes were blood red with anger._

_"You had me, Sasuke-san. I was there for you. I loved you, I supported you, but you took it all and gave me nothing in return. My heart started bleeding and soon the rest followed," she said blankly, as if she was merely talking about the weather."So that's why I made a new choice. I want to be with someone who can give me love, who won't take me for granted." Her voice slowly filled with emotion and her transparency slowly became replaced by a real body. She started looking like the real Sakura again._

_"Sa-Sakura," Sasuke said stunned and extended his hand in order to feel her and see if she was real._

_"I got another chance from Kami-sama to make a new__ resolve, to pick the right person this time." She turned her head towards Itachi. "Right, Itachi-kun?"_

_"No," Sasuke whispered quietly. This couldn't be happening. It __was like she said:__ s__he was the only one he had left. The only one who had been there for him, who had loved him so deeply. "No," he repeated and fell to his knees. While Sakura was leaping off the bed, and her dead body slowly disappeared, only leaving the blood behind, Sasuke grasped for his heart._

_It felt like it was bleeding. His hand became drenched in blood and his eyes widened in horror. "Sakura…" he said hoarsely. _

_She was chatting happily while his world slowly became surrounded by darkness. Itachi had enveloped his arms around Sakura and she turned her head at hearing her voice._

_"Sakura…chan, I'm…" he coughed blood now. "I'm sorry…" he said before fully falling down. "Please…" His body felt torn. He didn't want to die alone. Not like this. He wanted to be held by Sakura, who would whisper to him that it would be all okay, while she was trying to heal his wounds. He wanted to feel her warmth. "So sorry… Sakura," he repeated, fighting to stay conscious._

_"Itachi-kun, shall we get out of here? He's annoying," she said._

_Those last words were like his final death sentence and with one last __cry;__ he finally closed his eyes, knowing that he didn't deserve a second chance._

My eyes flew open and my heart was pounding heavily in my chest. I looked around rapidly and shot up. Sakura!

I leaped to my feet and almost ran over to her bed. Was she alright? Did I kill her?

Her face looked pale but she was breathing. Her chest moved up and down heavily.

My knees felt weak and I fell down on my knees next to her bed. Sakura… My dream had seemed so realistic, yet here she was lying in her bed, sleeping not knowing what was going on in my mind.

Why was it that she kept appearing in my nightmares so frequently?

"Sasuke-kun?" she muttered sleepily, staring at me with half lidded eyes.

"It's okay, go back to sleep," I said soothingly.

"Mhm," she replied sleepily and closed her eyes.

It wasn't okay. My dream was way too close to reality.

I kept glancing at the girl with the pink hair in front of me. I had caused her pain. I had hurt her. I knew I would hurt her even more and I also knew that she didn't deserve that. But what should I do? I couldn't just leave her alone. Not in this state at least. Moreover, wouldn't it hurt her even more when she would be left alone again? Deadly tired, I fell asleep again, this time; my head was lying on her bed though.

* * *

I woke up freshly and happily. Ah, how great sleep could be. I turned around, not wanting to get up yet and saw Sasuke-kun lying with his head on my bed. Why was he lying there?! He looked so peaceful while he was asleep, it made me want to stroke his hair and kiss his beautiful features. It would probably wake him, so I decided against it, not wanting to wake him up already. 

I didn't dare to move, so I laid there quietly, waiting till he would wake up himself.

I really felt a lot better today, for a great deal because of Sasuke-kun's great help. That made me realize, that he didn't have a blanket or anything thrown around his body. He must be very cold. Slowly and carefully, I pulled him into my bed. He didn't even blink, but curled up against me once he lay in position. He must've been deadly tired. I shivered from the coolness of his body and place my arms around him, only to fall asleep again myself.

As I woke up a few hours later, I was lying here all by myself again and smiled sadly. It must've been the circumstances that made him lose his collective nature and fall asleep on top of my bed. Feeling quite alright again, I got out of bed and saw a note swirling down. I caught it and smiled.

_I went to fix us breakfast,_

_Sasuke._

Why had he become so thoughtful all of a sudden? I had no idea. Since I hadn't been able to do anything yesterday, I got one of my medic books and started reading again. Maybe, being here with Sasuke-kun wouldn't make me as sad as I'd thought before. With the help of a soldier pill, my strength should return easily. I tried some easy exercises and was finding myself capable of my usual chakra control again.

Satisfied and bouncing with energy, I slammed by book closed and got up. Time to change my clothes.

Happily, I started to sing while I grabbed my clothes and pulled my shirt out.

Without any warning, the door slammed open and horrified, I was staring at Sasuke-kun while being topless. At least he had the decency to color.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun," I managed to drag out flabbergasted and feeling very exposed. Realizing my nudity, I covered myself up quickly. "What are you doing here without knocking?" I asked beet red. This was so embarrassing!

"I brought us some breakfast," he replied, not looking at me directly. "As I can see, you're feeling a lot better now," he added, bringing me my share of the food. He seemed rather shy or at least embarrassed to walk in to me like that. It made me want to smile. He wasn't quite that bad indeed.

"Sakura, we need to talk," he suddenly said seriously. I put my food down and looked at his hands instead of his face.

"It's about our strategy. I want to talk these things through before we will encounter _them_," as he referred to Kisame and Itachi. I found out that he didn't like to be remembered of the fact that they indeed were brothers, the same flesh and blood.

"I don't know about your current weaknesses or strengths at all. I only know the girl you used to be." What he didn't add, I thought while finally facing him, was that he hoped I'd improved my other skills besides my medical knowledge as well. Otherwise I would turn out to be quite useless in the very end. That would be too ironic, since I couldn't go back either.

"Hai, I have improved," I answered the unspoken question hanging in the air. Doubt was still visible in his eyes though. "If you want to, we could pack our stuff and head east and spar halfway," I suggested. "I know I'm not at full strength yet, but with a soldier pill, things should speed up quite a bit."He kept staring at me, making me feel quite uncomfortable again.

"Aa," he nodded agreeing. "How far does your medical skill go?" he asked me and I smiled.

"There are rumors that I have surpassed Tsunade-sama," I replied smiling.

"So I heard," he muttered underneath his breath. He stood and walked over to his side of the room, picking up a scroll from his bed. He came back carrying it and opened it while he was seated next to me again.

He saw me looking and smirked. "This is your file."My file… I wondered.

"Kabuto's file about you. He was quite interested in you, since you aspired to become a medic. It's quite thorough. He filed everything, from the day you started to train to become a medic. Even when you were heading out to aid the Kazekage and you made the cures against that poison. He filed it all. Though the information about your other skills were quite limited and that made me worry. Apparently, glasses boy wasn't as interested in that aspect about you as I am," he looked assessing at me. "Of course I remember our interrogation and my broken nose, but other than that, I must admit that I'm still in the dark." He paused for me to comprehend and gave me time to say something. As I didn't use that time, he continued: "I think the best way to get to know your fighting style for me, is by experiencing it myself. Just promise me that your feelings won't blurry your focus. You can have feelings or whatsoever; just don't let them get in your way while you fight. Promise me," he looked me deep in the eyes but I couldn't answer.

"I can have feelings?" I slowly repeated moments later.

"I cannot forbid you to feel emotions. I'm not the boss of you, just don't let them interfere with my business," he replied.

I stared at him. He looked so gorgeous and I really couldn't resist him any longer. Yesterday, he had been there for me all day even though I was ill. He cared for me yesterday and I learned this new side to him, which I wanted to explore. He was always so closed about himself. I wanted to know more about Sasuke-kun. I didn't know if he cared for me or not, all I wanted was just to taste those lips again, feel his warm and strong body pressed against mine again. I loved him so much. The only thing that could make this difficult one-sided love of mine less painful would be his healing lips upon mine.

Before I could comprehend my actions, I was leaning in and pressed my longing lips against his, I couldn't care less about his reaction, but I hadn't expected what happened though.

Sasuke-kun stiffened at the first contact, but dropped the scroll he still had been holding in his hands and kissed me back.

His mouth felt wonderful upon mine and the memories from before flashed back into my mind.

When I finally pulled back for air, his eyes were blood red and he whispered: "Promise me, Sakura."

I was ready to promise anything and I nodded whispering out of breath my reply: "Aa, I promise," not really understanding what I'd been promising at all. "Sasuke-kun," I breathed as I recovered and kissed him once more. I didn't care about his feelings for me, if there were any to begin with. I just cared about how I felt needed at the moment, even though it was a different kind of need than mine, it still felt good.

Once again I thought: don't die, Sasuke-kun, don't die, I love you. Yet, I must've said it out loud, since he broke apart and started packing his stuff without saying anything.

Even though I felt horrible at the moment, it didn't feel as terrible as last time, since I still had yesterday's memory no matter what.

* * *

_The darkness, now slowly moving out of the way to let the radiant light enter her heart. Maybe, she could warm up his heart as well._

* * *

**Let me know what you think! A little bit of plot development here. I read so many different mangas and that's why they might seem a little bit OOC, hehe, sorry!**

* * *


	4. Part four: Choice

**I know it's been terriblely long since I last updated, so here is the next chapter, I hope you'll enjoy it!**

* * *

**Escape part 4: Choice**

_The choice she intentionally wanted to make, finally came her way, all she had to do was take it the chance and make the choice…_

After earlier this morning, we started to travel again. Sasuke-kun had told me that we were only a day or so away from catching up with Itachi, which basically meant that we would encounter him tomorrow. It was scaring me a little bit, since I had no idea how it was going to end. I believed in Sasuke-kun and my own skills, yet it had been quite a while since I'd last fought Itachi. Moreover, I had only seen Kakashi-sensei and Naruto fight him.

We hadn't done much talking after the kiss before we left so Sasuke's first words took me by surprise.

"Okay, let's do it here," Sasuke-kun said after dropping his bag on the ground.

"Do it… What?" I asked startled. Was he talking about _it_? He wasn't talking about sex now was he? Oh no… not here in the open during the day, right? Anxiously I awaited his answer.

"Fight. Let's fight here," he explained while giving me a stern look. I blushed and put my bag on the ground as well.

"Aa," I said quietly, wanting to slap myself. I must've have sounded like a pervert, and otherwise pretty desperately.

Sasuke-kun always looked so focused when he was preparing to fight. He looked really beautiful, although he hated to hear that. It never ceased to amaze me how powerful his attacks were.

"Take your stance," he ordered me and I slipped my gloves on. I made a fist and took a deep breath. Alright Uchiha, it's time to beat that pretty face of yours to pulp, I thought inwardly, trying to pep myself up.

"Ready?" he asked and I nodded. "Alright," he smirked and then he was gone.

I didn't let it get to me. Even though I didn't know where he was, I mean I couldn't see him, I could still feel where he was. I closed my eyes and reminded myself that he could see my attacks before I actually started them. Then I filled my hand with chakra and waited. It had to be the first attack. If that one missed or didn't go like I had planned it, he would have the advantage. And fighting was all about advantages.

I would be aiming for the back of his head. I knew I wasn't quite as fast as him, so that could certainly be a problem. Moreover, he could see right through all of it, so I had to distract him in some way or another.

There! I could sense him. I stood still, waiting for him to make his move. I had to wait, let him approach me as close as I could let him go. If he would hit me, I would have to rethink my strategy.

I still couldn't see Sasuke-kun, but I felt the air around me throbbing with his energy. Just a few more inches and I would finally see him. Three more seconds… Two more seconds… One… Now! There he was, all I could see was a glimpse of his smirking face. His eyes were blood red and I had to avoid looking at them. I switched my gaze to his ear and focused on it. I still couldn't move. Just a bit…

There, he was fast enough now. I quickly moved my head out of the dangerous zone and blocked his hand with my right hand, caught his arm and hold it with all my strength before moving my left hand to the back of his head.

Then I hit him at three spots and smirked. I let go of him and jumped half a yard away.

"What the hell!" Sasuke-kun said confused. "What's going on? I can't see! What the hell did you do Sakura!"

"I stopped the chakra flow to your eyes so I could avoid your Sharingan and then I temporally blinded you. It will only hold on for half an hour," I grinned evilly.

While he was still confused, I sneaked up from behind, masking my chakra to avoid sudden attacks and knocked him to the floor. With a smile, I landed myself on top of his back.

"Gotcha," I said innocently.

"I can't believe this," Sasuke-kun growled underneath me.

"What? That you were tricked so easily? By the weakest girl of the era?" I couldn't help but tease him.

"Hn," he snorted very gracelessly. "I won't start making up excuses," he said. "So please get off me," he sighed, clearly unhappy with his unmanly defeat.

"Oss, taichou!" I saluted and he growled before rolling over and sitting down.

"Where did you learn this?" he asked with closed eyes.

"I studied the human body enough to know some of its weaknesses," I replied vaguely.

Sasuke-kun snorted, "What do you mean, studying the human body," he growled.

I cut him off with a grin. "Moreover it can be really helpful. Especially during the times that Naruto would sneak in to the girls' dressing room," I added sourly, remembering the incident quite well. Then I grinned. "He didn't take it quite as well as you did though. It was a fun half an hour; I never knew he could be such a baby. He acted like it was a miracle that he could see again," I laughed. Hinata had been too embarrassed. She'd been shaky for three days. Every sound made her nearly faint.

"I can imagine," Sasuke-kun smirked. He rubbed his eyes and sighed as nothing changed. "Being blind's not that good though."

"Don't worry; it will wear off in about twenty minutes. I know being blind is the worst. I started training with a blindfold to sense Lee-kun's attacks coming because of his speed. My eyes cannot keep up with that incredible speed," I smiled, remembering how I finally was able to dodge Lee-kun's attacks. Suddenly I felt very sad, thinking about how he praised me afterwards. I thought about all my friends at home and how they would be worrying about me.

I didn't even notice Sasuke-kun standing up and walk over to me. He put a hand on my shoulder and said the words that could change my current situation for good. He gave me a choice.

"If you want to go now, you can," he said and it nearly stopped my heart.

"I can go on without you. Go home and I won't stop you. Go home and tell them where I am if you want to." He smiled a bit. "I won't come home though."

My ears started buzzing and my heartbeat increased. My palms became sweaty and I felt lightheaded. My breathing became shallow and my medical knowledge popped up, whispering: You're hyperventilating.

"…ura! Sakura, get a grip!" Sasuke-kun tried to reach me and shook my body.

This was my chance, I could escape this horrifying situation. I didn't have to see how Sasuke-kun would slaughter his brother and everyone that would stop him from doing that. I didn't have to stay and do nothing. I didn't have to keep my promise of leaving him behind when he would be bleeding to death, spit on by his brother while the image would burn into my mind forever without being able to help him at all. I could go…

--

Currently, she was totally flipping out. I couldn't see a damn thing, so I had to trust my senses. With my hand, I took hers and let my thumbs run across her palms. They were wet and sweaty. Slowly, I let my hands travel up her arms and reached her neck, where I could feel her fast heartbeat. I could hear her shallow breathing and cupped her cheeks.

I let my chakra flow into her pale cheeks and slowly, her breathing became deeper. Her heartbeat slowed down and she seemed to calm down.

It appeared to me as though she was very wobbly, so I helped her sitting down against a tree.

"Everything's alright, don't panic," I said softly.

Finally my eyesight was coming back little by little and I saw her shaky figure, with tears welling up in her eyes, she stared ahead.

I sat down besides her and pulled her against my body. "I'm sorry," she muttered quietly.

"Don't be."

"It's just that I miss them so much, I didn't even get the chance to tell them goodbye," she sobbed.

"I know."

"But the thing is," she said and looked at me through those teary jade eyes, "I don't want to go back like this." She blinked her tears away and took a shaky breath. "I can't leave you until you're finished." Sakura looked very serious now even though her voice sounded quivery. "No matter what the circumstances of my departure were, even though I didn't have a choice back then, I do have one now and I want to stay." She looked straight into my eyes and in a pleading tone she said: "So please, don't ever tell me I can leave again. I want this to be over Sasuke-kun. I want to put this to an end. It's been so many years since you left, don't make me leave," she sighed.

We had this conversation already; was what I wanted to tell her, but then, she knew we had. She knew what she was saying. She didn't want to go back.

The urge to kiss her, to feel her, o be there for her just this once, had never been so strong in my entire time of being with her. Yet I didn't give in to it. I couldn't. It was too overwhelming. I knew that if I'd kiss her now, it'd be lost. I wouldn't be able to fight my brother properly without worrying about her. Worrying caused wounds and wounds would lead to defeat. I couldn't lose, not this time.

I stared down at her, trying my hardest to control myself. I saw her intense look, asking, no _begging_ me to kiss her. Her eyes closed and I knew I would hurt her by getting up and leaving now, but I had to.

Though when I tried to get up, my body acted out of its own. I could feel how I leaned forward, closing my eyes, to be surrounded by darkness again. My hands entangled themselves around her body and my mouth reached out for hers. As they met a sigh escaped her mouth, setting my self-control free.

All I could think about was this girl in my arms, intoxicating me with her fragrance, poisoning me with her kisses, practically making me sign of my own death warrant. I was gone nobody could save me from this point on.

--

His mouth moved over mine as though they were designed for each other. Everywhere he touched me, my body was set on fire.

I was burning up from the inside and my heartbeat increased again. This time though, it didn't feel unpleasant at all. My throat thickened and his tongue glided over my upper lip, leaving a tingling feeling.

With one fast movement, I landed on his lap and he muttered in my ear: "Yesterday, I thought I'd lost you forever." Which didn't make any sense to me, but then that could be caused by the fuzzy feeling in my head.

"Sakura…" he muttered. "We really shouldn't be doing this," he said, but his hands never stopped moving. "Please stop, because I can't," he said huskily, sending shivers down my spine.

"But," I protested, feeling way too good to stop.

"No please, stop me…" he insisted, sounding so seductive. "We have to continue this elsewhere."

I shifted my weight and he groaned. "This is too dangerous," he panted slightly.

"Why?" I whispered confused. It was nearly noon and every second we were losing we could lose track of Itachi of course…

"Because we need to get Itachi, before he changes his plans. If he runs, we won't know where he is," Sasuke-kun said in pain.

I tried to face him properly.

"If he finds us first, on the other hand, we'll be dead," he finished and he opened his eyes only to moan once more. "Please stop me," he whispered again as he pressed his mouth on mine.

With all my willpower, I pushed him away and got up to prevent anyone of us to fall back into our former position.

"Sorry," he muttered, being one of the first times I heard him apologize, which eased my pain.

"I understand," I smiled. "First things first. We wouldn't have made such good shinobi without our willpower," I said understandingly. He nodded and got up.

I fixed my clothes and got our bags. I wiped the dust off them and handed one to Sasuke-kun. "Let's go."

He took it without saying a word and I smiled to myself, because little by little, he was changing.

_But in the end, she'd already made her decision along the way._

* * *

**And there you go! Let me know what you think. Next time is the encounter with Itachi, so I wanted that to be a little longer, so it would be more complete. For those of you following the manga, I'm not going to follow the plotline of the manga, since I don't want to spoil anything. I hope you'll understand.  
**

**JadeMesmerizedByOnyx  
**

* * *


	5. Part four revised: Choice

**Apparently I've already posted this chapter, well (I didn't know T.T), but I've stretched it a bit. So this will be the new part 4. I'll delete the other chapter in a few days, after you've read this one. **

_Wow, I know, it's been awfully long and I should feel decently ashamed, but I'm not. I'm sorry to say that though, so that ought to do the job. _

_Anyway. I've finally gotten through my first year of uni and I'm really enjoying it. I only have to retake 2 classes out of the 13 (which I think is pretty damn good, lol), so that's why I didn't have that much time to write. Moreover, and I think I've mentioned it before in some of my stories, I've stopped watching the anime, and with only the manga to read (finally, it's getting somewhere, ugh, it's _finally_ starting to get interesting again), there is not so much to work with. Hence, I was stuck with some one-shots and some Harry Potter stories I've written. But finally, I'm proud to present you: "Chapter 4". Not that I'm particularly proud of it, I'm just happy to have finished a new chapter of at least _something_. _

_Thus, here's a little recap (it's been too damn long T.T):_

* * *

_Recap:_

_Once again I thought: don't die, Sasuke-kun, don't die, I love you. Yet, I must've said it out loud, since he broke apart and started packing his stuff without saying anything._

_Even though I felt horrible at the moment, it didn't feel as terrible as last time, since I still had yesterday's memory no matter what._

* * *

**Escape part 4: Choice**

* * *

_The choice she intentionally wanted to make, finally came her way, all she had to do was take it the chance and make the choice…_

After earlier this morning, we started to travel again. Sasuke-kun had told me that we were only a day or so away from catching up with Itachi, which basically meant that we would encounter him tomorrow. It was scaring me a little bit, since I had no idea how it was going to end. I believed in Sasuke-kun and my own skills, yet it had been quite a while since I'd last fought Itachi. Moreover, I had only seen Kakashi-sensei and Naruto fight him.

We hadn't done much talking after the kiss before we left so Sasuke's first words took me by surprise.

"Okay, let's do it here," Sasuke-kun said after dropping his bag on the ground.

"Do it… What?" I asked startled. Was he talking about _it_? He wasn't talking about sex now was he? Oh no… not here in the open during the day, right? Anxiously I awaited his answer.

"Fight. Let's fight here," he explained while giving me a stern look. I blushed and put my bag on the ground as well.

"Aa," I said quietly, wanting to slap myself. I must've have sounded like a pervert, and otherwise pretty desperately. A blush crept up my face and I averted my face.

Sasuke-kun always looked so focused when he was preparing to fight. He looked really beautiful, although he hated to hear that. It never ceased to amaze me how powerful his attacks were.

"Take your stance," he ordered me and I slipped my gloves on. I made a fist and took a deep breath. _Alright Uchiha, it's time to beat that pretty face of yours to pulp_, I thought inwardly, trying to pep myself up.

"Ready?" he asked and I nodded. "Alright," he smirked and then he was gone.

I didn't let it get to me. Even though I didn't know where he was, I mean I couldn't see him, I could still feel where he was. I closed my eyes and reminded myself that he could see my attacks before I actually started them. Then I filled my hand with chakra and waited. It had to be the first attack. If that one missed or didn't go like I had planned it, he would have the advantage. And fighting was all about advantages.

I would be aiming for the back of his head. I knew I wasn't quite as fast as him, so that could certainly be a problem. Moreover, he could see right through all of it, so I had to distract him in some way or another.

There! I could sense him. I stood still, waiting for him to make his move. I had to wait, let him approach me as close as I could let him go. If he would hit me, I would have to rethink my strategy.

I still couldn't see Sasuke-kun, but I felt the air around me throbbing with his energy. Just a few more inches and I would finally see him. Three more seconds… Two more seconds… One… Now! There he was, all I could see was a glimpse of his smirking face. His eyes were blood red and I had to avoid looking at them. I switched my gaze to his ear and focused on it. I still couldn't move. Just a bit…

There, he was fast enough now. I quickly moved my head out of the dangerous zone and blocked his hand with my right hand, caught his arm and hold it with all my strength before moving my left hand to the back of his head.

Then I hit him at three spots and smirked. I let go of him and jumped half a yard away.

"What the hell!" Sasuke-kun said confused. "What's going on? I can't see! What the hell did you do Sakura!"

"I stopped the chakra flow to your eyes so I could avoid your Sharingan and then I temporally blinded you. It will only hold on for half an hour," I grinned evilly.

While he was still confused, I sneaked up from behind, masking my chakra to avoid sudden attacks and knocked him to the floor. With a smile, I landed myself on top of his back.

"Gotcha," I said innocently.

"I can't believe this," Sasuke-kun growled underneath me.

"What? That you were tricked so easily? By the weakest girl of the era?" I couldn't help but tease him.

"Hn," he snorted very gracelessly. "I won't start making up excuses," he said. "So please get off me," he sighed, clearly unhappy with his unmanly defeat.

"Oss, taichou!" I saluted and he growled before rolling over and sitting down.

"Where did you learn this?" he asked with closed eyes.

"I studied the human body enough to know some of its weaknesses," I replied vaguely.

Sasuke-kun snorted, "What do you mean, studying the human body," he growled.

I cut him off with a grin. "Moreover it can be really helpful. Especially during the times that Naruto would sneak in to the girls' dressing room," I added sourly, remembering the incident quite well. Then I grinned. "He didn't take it quite as well as you did though. It was a fun half an hour; I never knew he could be such a baby. He acted like it was a miracle that he could see again," I laughed. Hinata had been too embarrassed. She'd been shaky for three days. Every sound made her nearly faint.

"I can imagine," Sasuke-kun smirked. He rubbed his eyes and sighed as nothing changed. "Being blind's not that good though."

"Don't worry; it will wear off in about twenty minutes. I know being blind is the worst. I started training with a blindfold to sense Lee-kun's attacks coming because of his speed. My eyes cannot keep up with that incredible speed," I smiled, remembering how I finally was able to dodge Lee-kun's attacks. Suddenly I felt very sad, thinking about how he praised me afterwards. I thought about all my friends at home and how they would be worrying about me.

I didn't even notice Sasuke-kun standing up and walk over to me. He put a hand on my shoulder and said the words that could change my current situation for good. He gave me a choice.

"If you want to go now, you can," he said and it nearly stopped my heart.

"I can go on without you. Go home and I won't stop you. Go home and tell them where I am if you want to." He smiled a bit. "I won't come home though."

My ears started buzzing and my heartbeat increased. My palms became sweaty and I felt lightheaded. My breathing became shallow and my medical knowledge popped up, whispering: You're hyperventilating.

"…ura! Sakura, get a grip!" Sasuke-kun tried to reach me and shook my body.

This was my chance, I could escape this horrifying situation. I didn't have to see how Sasuke-kun would slaughter his brother and everyone that would stop him from doing that. I didn't have to stay and do nothing. I didn't have to keep my promise of leaving him behind when he would be bleeding to death, spit on by his brother while the image would burn into my mind forever without being able to help him at all. I could go…

--

Currently, she was totally flipping out. I couldn't see a damn thing, so I had to trust my senses. With my hand, I took hers and let my thumbs run across her palms. They were wet and sweaty. Slowly, I let my hands travel up her arms and reached her neck, where I could feel her fast heartbeat. I could hear her shallow breathing and cupped her cheeks.

I let my chakra flow into her pale cheeks and slowly, her breathing became deeper. Her heartbeat slowed down and she seemed to calm down.

It appeared to me as though she was very wobbly, so I helped her sitting down against a tree.

"Everything's alright, don't panic," I said softly.

Finally my eyesight was coming back little by little and I saw her shaky figure, with tears welling up in her eyes, she stared ahead.

I sat down besides her and pulled her against my body. "I'm sorry," she muttered quietly.

"Don't be."

"It's just that I miss them so much, I didn't even get the chance to tell them goodbye," she sobbed.

"I know."

"But the thing is," she said and looked at me through those teary jade eyes, "I don't want to go back like this." She blinked her tears away and took a shaky breath. "I can't leave you until you're finished." Sakura looked very serious now even though her voice sounded quivery. "No matter what the circumstances of my departure were, even though I didn't have a choice back then, I do have one now and I want to stay." She looked straight into my eyes and in a pleading tone she said: "So please, don't ever tell me I can leave again. I want this to be over Sasuke-kun. I want to put this to an end. It's been so many years since you left, don't make me leave," she sighed.

We had this conversation already; was what I wanted to tell her, but then, she knew we had. She knew what she was saying. She didn't want to go back.

The urge to kiss her, to feel her, o be there for her just this once, had never been so strong in my entire time of being with her. Yet I didn't give in to it. I couldn't. It was too overwhelming. I knew that if I'd kiss her now, it'd be lost. I wouldn't be able to fight my brother properly without worrying about her. Worrying caused wounds and wounds would lead to defeat. I couldn't lose, not this time.

I stared down at her, trying my hardest to control myself. I saw her intense look, asking, no _begging_ me to kiss her. Her eyes closed and I knew I would hurt her by getting up and leaving now, but I had to.

Though when I tried to get up, my body acted out of its own. I could feel how I leaned forward, closing my eyes, to be surrounded by darkness again. My hands entangled themselves around her body and my mouth reached out for hers. As they met a sigh escaped her mouth, setting my self-control free.

All I could think about was this girl in my arms, intoxicating me with her fragrance, poisoning me with her kisses, practically making me sign of my own death warrant. I was gone nobody could save me from this point on.

--

His mouth moved over mine as though they were designed for each other. Everywhere he touched me, my body was set on fire.

I was burning up from the inside and my heartbeat increased again. This time though, it didn't feel unpleasant at all. My throat thickened and his tongue glided over my upper lip, leaving a tingling feeling.

With one fast movement, I landed on his lap and he muttered in my ear: "Yesterday, I thought I'd lost you forever." Which didn't make any sense to me, but then that could be caused by the fuzzy feeling in my head.

"Sakura…" he muttered. "We really shouldn't be doing this," he said, but his hands never stopped moving. "Please stop, because I can't," he said huskily, sending shivers down my spine.

"But," I protested, feeling way too good to stop.

"No please, stop me…" he insisted, sounding so seductive. "We have to continue this elsewhere."

I shifted my weight and he groaned. "This is too dangerous," he panted slightly.

"Why?" I whispered confused. It was nearly noon and every second we were losing we could lose track of Itachi of course…

"Because we need to get Itachi, before he changes his plans. If he runs, we won't know where he is," Sasuke-kun said in pain.

I tried to face him properly.

"If he finds us first, on the other hand, we'll be dead," he finished and he opened his eyes only to moan once more. "Please stop me," he whispered again as he pressed his mouth on mine.

With all my willpower, I pushed him away and got up to prevent anyone of us to fall back into our former position.

"Sorry," he muttered, being one of the first times I heard him apologize, which eased my pain.

"I understand," I smiled. "First things first. We wouldn't have made such good shinobi without our willpower," I said understandingly and saw him clench his fists before he got up.

I fixed my clothes and got our bags. I wiped the dust off them and handed one to Sasuke-kun. "Let's go."

He took it without talking and I smiled to myself because little by little, he was changing.

_--_

Willpower she'd said. Involuntarily, I clenched my fists again. It was all about willpower, but why did I have such difficulties with it just a moment ago?

Despite being known for my coldness and emotionless appearance (who the hell was I kidding with that attitude anyway?), I was having annoying trouble with willpower. Kami knows what would have 

happened if I wouldn't have asked her to stop me. How pathetic, I had to _ask_ her to stop me. I smiled grimly. If this had been somewhat years ago, I would have to be the one stopping her.

Had it been wise to bring her along or had it been an enormous mistake form the beginning? Somewhere along the way she'd been starting to burden me. Was that why I was proposing her to leave?

Somehow, I felt afraid that I wouldn't have a quieter life without her here by my side. It would probably just leave me worrying about her departure and whether or not she would arrive home safely.

Home. It once had been my home as well. The few years before my brother selfishly decided to kill the whole damn clan. After that it had just been lonely. It still was her home though. I'd taken Sakura's home away from her, just like that man had taken mine, leaving her no choice but to accept the new circumstances.

Of all the people, I certainly did not have the right to do that. I knew how it felt, yet I'd done the same thing to her. Why hadn't I just killed her family as well while at it?

_Because it would have been inconvenient,_ my mind answered to the truth.

The stirring emotions were almost too much for me. After years of not letting any emotions get in the way or whatsoever (except for hatred), it was dropped on me rather heavily.

Even though she had made her decision, I still didn't think it right. It had been a decision made later on. With her sense of righteousness, she would never leave me in the mess I'd dragged her into, no matter how I'd treated her. She was way too kindhearted to be a shinobi really. We weren't supposed to be cruel, but many of us became like that anyway, because of the war and blood shedding they'd seen. This job didn't require fragile, warm people. Only those of us who were able to acclimatize would survive.

I didn't doubt Sakura's abilities when it came to enemies, but she shouldn't be treating a former friend as the friend he'd been (had I ever?) when he now was an S-class missing nin. No wonder she'd picked to be a medic out of all professions.

She'd tried to escape once indeed, but she hadn't succeeded. And even if she could have managed to get away, I doubt that she'd really chosen to go through with it.

I glanced at her from the corner of my eyes and saw the determined look on her face while she was basically flying through the air next to me. She would definitely stick around until the job was done properly. Her loyalty was greater than her homesickness.

She longed for Konoha and her friends, but she wouldn't leave until the mission was properly dealt with, which in this case meant the murder of my brother.

While thinking of him, my strategically side got the better of me and locked away my thoughts and the emotions attached. There was no time to lose.

--

Even though I didn't see him staring, I could feel how Sasuke-kun was looking at me from the corner of his eyes. I clenched my teeth, trying not to smile at the idea how he left me with a choice. It shouldn't affect me that much but it did nonetheless. It was just a big deal.

I thought about yesterday and how much he'd changed since he'd abducted me so that I would come along. Sasuke-kun never did anything without thinking it all through. Though this time it had seemed more desperate.

I thought it over and accepted that it had indeed been more of a desperate act than anything else really. I mean, to escape and kidnap a medic from his former hometown hadn't really been the cleverest thing to do now had it?

"Sasuke-kun," I muttered, not exactly knowing why.

He didn't stop but tilted his head the slightest bit, so I could see that he was listening.

"You know… I just want you to know that my decision has been made," I started uneasily. I didn't really want to bring this up again.

"Really?" he answered, still not looking at me. I brushed the leaves out of my face, trying to figure what to say next.

"Yes," I said more firmly. "I'll finish this mission with you. I owe you that."

"You don't owe me anything," he said shortly, with a little hind of his old coldness.

"As a matter of fact I do. I mean, after yesterday I do." _Not that you've done that much for me for the past few years_, I couldn't help but think sourly.

Sasuke-kun was quiet for a bit. "If you want to see it that way to make you feel better for betraying your village, then be my guest."

Betraying… _Ah well_, I thought grimly, _why not do it right if I'm already at it? I'll be punished either way._

"I can live with that," I muttered quietly.

His reply was a mere grunt.

After that I kept silent again. I just hoped that we would have to fight Itachi soon. The sooner the better, because afterwards, I would have to do some great thinking.

With a blush, I remembered or more intimate moments.

_At least you got yourself some nice memories,_ my inner voice couldn't help but tease me.

Well indeed I had. Nobody could take those away from me. Not even the Konoha council. I wondered what Sasuke-kun would do after he'd killed Itachi. What _could_ he do? There would be nothing left for him now, would there? He couldn't be expecting a nice 'welcome home' party, after leaving there twice.

This time though, there was a difference. The first time he had left, he left me behind. Now, the second time, he had taken me along. I didn't have much hope, but I could always try, right?

Suddenly, there was a whole new reason for me to stay. I'd made my decision. Sasuke-kun had given me a choice and I'd chosen to travel along, to help him achieve his goal. To kill his brother. Afterwards, there would be plenty of time for me to convince him to come with me. We could turn ourselves in, or we could run away like the traitors we had become. Either way, we had a choice.

_But in the end, she'd already made her decision along the way._

* * *

_Let me know what you think. I cannot promise another chapter soon (it's bloody summer vacation, yet there is no sun! o.O nonetheless, there is lots to do!), but I'll try. _

_JadeMesmerizedByOnyx._


End file.
